Huygens' (Wave Optics) 1-22

WAVE OPTICS
The locus of all the particles of the medium, which at any instant are vibrating in the same
phase, is called the wave front.
Depending upon the shape of the source of light wave front can be of the following types:
1. Spherical wave front. A spherical wave front is produced by a point source of light.
It is because, the locus of all such points, which are equidistant from the point
source, is a sphere.
2. Cylindrical wave front. When the source of light is linear in shape (such as a
slit), a cylindrical wave front is produced. It is because, all the point, which are
equidistant from the linear source, lie on the surface of a cylinder.
3. Plane wave front. A small part of a spherical or a cylindrical wave front

originating from a distant source will appear plane and hence it is called a
plane wave front.
Ray of light. An arrow drawn normal to the wave front and pointing in the direction of propagation of disturbance
represents a ray of light. A ray of light is the path along which light travels.
HUYGENS’ PRINCIPLE
Huygens’ principle is a geometrical construction, which is used to determine the new position of a wave front at a later
time from its given position at any instant
Huygens’ principle is based on the following assumptions
1. Each point on a wavefront acts as a fresh source of new disturbance , called secondary waves or wavelets.
2. The secondary wavelets spread out in all directions with the speed of light in the given medium.
Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 1

3. The new wavefront at any later time is given by the forward envelope (tangential surface in the forward
direction) of the secondary wavelets at that time.
Huygen’s construction. It is geometrical method of locating the new position and shape of a wavefront at any instant
from its known position and shape at any other instant. The various steps involved are as follows :
1. Consider a spherical [Fig (a)] or plane [Fig (b)] wavefront towards right. Let be its position at any instant of
time. The region on its left has received the wave while region on the right is undisturbed.
2. According to Huygen’s principle, each point on becomes a source of secondary disturbance, which travels with
the same speed . To find the new wavefront after time , we draw spheres of radii , from each point on .
3. The forward envelope or the tangential surface of the secondary wavelets gives the new wavefront after time .
4. The line , are perpendicular to both and . Along these lines, the energy flows from to
. So these lines represent the rays. Rays are always normal to wavefronts.
Refraction and Reflection of Planes Waves using Huygens Principle:

(i) Refraction of a Plane Wave:
Let represent speed of light in medium 1 and medium 2, respectively. We assume a plane wavefront
AB propagation in the direction incident on the interface at an angle i as shown in Fig.
Let τ be time taken by the wavefront to travel the distance BC. Thus,
BC =
In order to determine the shape of the refracted wavefront we draw a

sphere of radius from the point A in the second medium the speed of
the wave in the second medium is . Let CE represent a tangent plane
drawn from the point C on the sphere. Then, AE = and CE would
represent the refracted wavefront.

In triangle ABC
In triangle AEC
And
Where i and r are the angles of incidence and refraction, respectively.

Thus we obtain Where c is the speed of light in vacuum
……. (i) = refractive index of medium 1
……. (ii) = refractive index of medium 2
From (i) and (ii)
This is the Snell’s law of refraction.

Note. When a wave gets refracted into denser medium ( ), the wavelength and the speed of propagation
decrease but the frequency remains the same.
(i) Refraction at a Rarer Medium: We now consider refraction of a plane wave at rarer medium i.e.,
. Proceeding in an exactly similar manner we can construct a refracted wavefront as shown in Fig.
The angle of refraction will now be greater than angle of incidence ; however, we will still have
(ii) Reflection of a Plane Wave by a Plane Surface :

We next consider a plane wave AB incident at an angle i on reflecting surface MN. If c represents the speed
of the wave in the medium and if τ represents the time taken by the wavefront to advance from the point B
to C then the distance.

In order to construct the reflected wavefront, we
draw a sphere of radius cτ from the point A as
shown in Fig. Let CE represent the tangent plane
dawn from the point C to this sphere.
So, AE = BC = cτ
Consider triangle EAC and BCA
AE = BC = cτ
∠ AEC = ∠ABC each =
AC = AC common side.
∴ EAC ≅ BCA
∴ i=r by CPCT
Behavior of a Prism, Convex Lens and Concave Mirror to a Plane Wavelength

Behaviour of a prism. Fig shows the refraction of a plane wavefront through a thin prism. Since the speed
of light in glass is smaller than that in air, therefore, the lower part C of the plane wavefront which travels
through the greatest thickness of the glass prism is slowed down the most and the upper part , which
travels through the minimum thickness of the glass prism, is slowed down the least. This explains the tilting
of a plane wavefront after refraction through a glass prism.
Behaviour of a convex lens. Fig shows the refraction of a plane wavefront through a convex lens. The
central part of the plane wavefront through a convex lens. The central part of the plane wavefront
travels through the greatest thickness of the lens and is, therefore slowed down the most. The marginal parts
and of the wavefront travel through a minimum thickness of the lens and are, therefore slowed down the
least. So the emerging wavefront is spherical and converging to a focus .

Behaviour of a concave mirror. Shows the reflection of a plane wavefront from a concave mirror.
The central part of the incident wavefront has to travel the greatest distance before getting reflected,
compared to the marginal parts and . Therefore, the central portion of the reflected wavefront is closer
to the mirror than the marginal proportions And . Hence the reflected wavefront is spherical and
converges to a focus.
Illustration 1. Monochromatic light of wavelength 589 nm is incident from air on a water surface. What are
the wavelength, frequency and speed of (a) reflected, and (b) refracted light? Reflective index of water is
1.33. NCERT
Solution. Here, m
(a) For reflected c = 3 ( )
∴ Frequency .
(b) In moving from one medium to the other, frequency remains unchanged ∴ frequency of refracted
light is ’ = 5.09 × Hz
Also, nm.
And v= .
Illustration 2. What is the geometrical shape of the wavefront in each of the following cases:
(a) Light diverging from a point source.
(b) Light emerging out a convex lens when a point source is placed at its focus.
(c) The portion of the wavefront of light from a distance star intercepted by the Earth. NCERT
Solution. (a) Spherical (b) Plane (c) Plane.

Illustration 3. Light of wavelength 5000 Å falls on a plane reflecting surface. What are the wavelength and
frequency of the reflected light? For what angle of incidence is the reflected ray normal to the incident ray?
NCERT
Solution. Here Å m,
∴ Wave length of reflected light = Wavelength of incident light = 5000 Å.
Also,
Now
Also,
Illustration 4. (a). The refractive index of glass is 1.5. What is the speed of light in glass? (Speed of light in
vacuum is 3.0 × ).
(b). Is the speed of light in glass independent of the colour of light? If not, which of the two colours red and
violet travels slower in a glass prism?
Solution. (a). Here,
∴ Speed of light in glass,
(b). Since Cauchy formula states that
i.e.,
Clearly, the speed of light is not independent of colour of light (in case of glass). The wave length of violet
colour is small compared to red colour, therefore, the velocity of violet component is less than the red one.
 THE DOPPLER EFFECT :
Definition : When there is a relative motion behavior the source of light and observer, the apparent frequency
received by the observer increase or decrease. This is known as Doppler effect.
Red shift : When the source and observer MOVE AWAY from each other, the apparent frequency
DECREASES and hence, wavelength INCREASES, This is called red shift.
Blue shift : When source and observer MOVE TOWARDS each other, the apparent frequency INCREASES
and hence, wavelength DECREASES. This is called blue shift.

component of the source velocity along the line joining the
observer to the source.
is consider positive when the source moves away from observer.
This formula is valid only when the speed of the source is small compared to that of light.
Illustration 5. What speed should a galaxy move with respect to us so that the sodium line at 589.0 nm is observed at
589.6 nm? NCERT
Solution.
We get
( )
Therefore, the galaxy is moving away from us.
Illustration 6.
(a) When monochromatic light is incident on a surface separating two media, the reflected and refracted light
both have the same frequency as the incident frequency. Explain why?
(b) When light travels from a rarer to a denser medium, the speed decreases. Does the reduction in speed imply a
reduction in the energy carried by the light wave?
(c) In the wave picture of light, intensity of light is determined by the square of the amplitude of the wave.
What determines the intensity of light in the photon picture of light. NCERT
Solution.
(a) Reflection and refraction arise through interaction of incident light with the atomic constituents of matter.
Atoms may be viewed as oscillators, which take up the frequency of the external agency (Light) causing
forced oscillations. The frequency of light emitted by a charged oscillator equals its frequency of oscillation.
Thus, the frequency of scattered light equals the frequency of incident light.
(b) No. Energy carried by a wave depends on the amplitude of the wave, not on the speed of wave propagation.

(c) For a given frequency, intensity of light in the photon picture is determined by the number of photons crossing
an unit area per unit time.
Illustration 7. The absolute refractive index of air is 1.0003 and wavelength of yellow light in vacuum is 6000 . Find
the thickness of air column which will contain one more wavelength of yellow light than in the same thickness of
vacuum.
Solution. Wavelength of yellow light in vacuum,
Wavelength of yellow light in air,
Let a thickness of vacuum contain waves and the same thickness of air contain waves.
Then
And
From the above two equations, we get
Or
EXERCISE 1.
1. What is a ray of light?
2. What is the importance of Huygen’s principal?
3. What is the phase difference between any two points on a wavefront?
4. What is the angle between wavefront and ray of light?
5. What is the shape of wavefront originating from (i) a point source and (ii) a line source
(iii) distance source?
6. Sketch the wavefront of (a) diverging rays (b) converging rays.
7. A plane wavefront incident on a concave mirror becomes spherical after reflection true or false.
8. (a) When monochromatic light is incident on a surface separating two media, the reflected and refracted light both
have the same frequency as the incident frequency. Explain why?
(b) When light travels from a rarer to a denser medium, the speed decreases. Does the reduction in speed imply a
reduction in the energy carried by the light wave?
(c) In the wave picture of light, intensity of light is determined by the square of the amplitude of the wave. What
determines the intensity of light in the photon picture of light.

9. Mention the shape of wavefront when
(a) the origin of spherical wavefront is at infinity.
(b) Light emerging out of a convex lens when a point source is placed at focus.
(c) A plane wavefront passes through a prism.
(d) A plane wavefront strikes a concave mirror.
10. Which physical quantity out of velocity, frequency and wavelength changes
(a) during reflection phenomenon,
(b) during refraction phenomenon?
11. What phase change occurs during reflection at (a) denser medium, (b) rarer medium?
12. A phase difference of is equivalent to a path length changes of .
Is above statement true of false?
13. Out of speed, frequency and wavelength, name the parameter (S), which remain (S) the same on reflection.
SUPERPOSITION PRINCIPLE : when a number of waves travel simultaneously through a medium the net
displacement of a particle of the medium equals the vector sum of its displacement due to the various waves travelling
through the medium
⃗ ⃗ ⃗ ⃗
Here ⃗ is the net displacement of a particle of the medium and ⃗ ⃗ ⃗ are its displacement due to the various
waves travelling through the medium.
Interference
When two light waves of same frequency and constant phase difference travelling in same direction
superimpose on each other then redistribution of energy takes place in the resultant wave. This phenomenon is
known as interference of light.
Mathematical Explanation of interference

Let us consider two waves and having the same wavelength, travelling nearly parallel to each other and having a
constant initial phase difference
Let us assume their amplitudes to be and and the phase difference at any point P. The displacement of the
waves at point P
.... (1)
And ( ) …. (2)
Where . Here is the phase difference due to path difference ( ).
Therefore
y =
= ( )
= ( ) ( )
Now we put
……… (3)
And ……… (4)
∴ y
( ) .…… (5)
Here eqn. (5) gives the equation of the resultant wave. On squaring and adding eqns. (3) and (4), we get
( ) ( )
…….. (6)
A resultant amplitude

Intensity Relations
Intensity I is proportional to square of the amplitude A.
∴ I =
Where K is a constant of proportionality. Let us now consider eqn. (6)
KA + KA + 2√
∴ √ …….. (7)
Where is the resultant intensity and and are the intensities of the individual waves.
For Constructive Interference.

For constructive interference, the resultant intensity and hence, the amplitude A should be maximum.
If
Where ………. (8)
Corresponding path difference
At maxima ……… (9)
(Where )
( )

Concept
During Constructive interference of two
waves
* Phase difference = 2 n
√ (√ √ ) * Path difference = n
* A1 + A 2
(√ √ )
Special Case.
…….. (10)
For Destructive interference

The resultant intensity and hence, the resultant amplitude should be minimum.
( ) where n = 1, 2, 3, …….. ..……. (11)

Corresponding path difference
Concept
During Destructive interference of two
waves
( )
* Phase difference = ( )
* Path difference = ( )
* A1 - A 2
( ) where n = 1, 2, 3, ……..
At minima
(where )
i.e., ( )
( )
| |

√ (√ √ )
(√ √ )
Special Case.
The ratio of intensities of maxima and minima can, therefore, be obtained as
(√ √ )
(√ √ )
( )
( )
Illustration 8. Light waves from two coherent sources of intensity ratio 81:1 produce interference. Calculate the ratio
of intensity of maxima and minima in the interference pattern.
Solution. Let us assume the intensities of the two sources to be
and
√ √
Now ( )
√ √
(√ √)
(√ √ )
( )
Illustration 9. The ratio of intensity of maxima and minima in an interference pattern is 100 : 64. Calculate the ratio
of amplitudes of the coherent sources producing the pattern.
( )
Solution. ( )

Conditions Required for Interference.
(i) The sources must be very close to each other and the point where interference is to be observed must be
far from the sources.
(ii) The wavelength of both the waves must be same. It means in case of light, two sources must be
monochromatic.
(iii) The sources must be coherent i.e., they must have zero or constant initial phase difference. In case of
light this is feasible only when both sources are derived from the same source. Two independent sources
of light can never be coherent).
NOTE. For two sources to be coherent, the sources

(i) Should emit light of same wavelength
(ii)Should have zero or constant phase difference between them.
Energy Conservation
It is very important to remember that interference merely involves redistribution of the energy of the waves in
space. The energy carried by each individual wave remains unaffected during their superposition. If is the
average intensity during interference then.
(√ √ ) (√ √ )
This shows that in interference energy is only redistributed, it is nether created nor destroyed.
Intensity, when the Two sources of Light are Incoherent
When two independent sources of light are producing light incoherently and have intensities and no interference
effects take place and therefore, their intensities are simply added up to get the resultant intensity as
If A is the amplitude of the resultant wave and and are the amplitudes of the individual waves, then
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As shown in fig suppose a narrow slit S is illuminated by monochromatic light of wavelength are two
narrow slits at equal distance from Being derived from the same parent source the slits and act as two
coherent sources, separated by a small distance Interference fringes are obtained on a screen placed at distance
from the sources and
Analytical Treatment
Consider a point P on the screen, at distance x from O. When either or alone is open, there is a continuous full
light, all along the screen. However, when both the slits are open, this uniformity disappears. Instead , we have a set of
alternate bright and dark vertical lines, equally thick and equally distant from each other. These are called interference
fringes.
On arriving at P, the waves from and have to travel different paths. So the waves arrive at P with a certain path
difference.
Path difference ( ) ( ) [ ( ) ] [ ( ) ]
Or ( )( )
Path difference = [ ]
Positions of Bright Fringes on the Screen
For a bright fringe at P,
Or
For [ ]
For [ ]

For [ ]
For [ ]
Positions of Dark fringes on the screen.
For a dark fringe at P, ( ) where
[first dark fringe]
[Second dark fringe]
( ) [ dark fringe]
Expression for Fringe Width
The distance between any two consecutive bright fringes is equal to the width of a dark fringe. It is denoted by .
( )
[ ( )]
Similarly the distance between any two consecutive dark fringes is equal to the width of a bright fringe
Conclusion. Both the bright and the dark fringes are of the same width.
Discussion,
(i) is directly proportional to . So, the fringes produced by light of shorter wavelength will be narrow as
compared to those produced by light of longer wavelength.
(ii) is directly proportional to D. Farther the screen from the slits, more is the fringe width.
(iii) is inversely proportional to the distance between the sources. Lesser the separation between two
coherent sources, more is the fringe width. If d becomes large, then the fringe width becomes too small to
be detected. This explains as to why the two coherent sources must be very close to each other.
Intensity Distribution Pattern in Interference Experiment.

All the bright interference bands have the same intensity
( )
All the dark interference bands have zero intensity ( )
The intensity distribution pattern in Young’s double slit experiment

is shown Fig

Relation Between width of slit and Intensity
The intensity of light is directly proportional to the width of slit.
Condition of Sustained Interference with Good Contrast

Interference pattern is said to be sustained if the positions of bright and dark fringe does not change with time on the
screen.
To have a sustained interference.
1. Two sources must be coherent.

2. Light from the sources should be continuously emitted.
3. Source should be close to each other.
4. For good contrast amplitudes should be equal.
5. Width of sources should be very narrow.
6. The slit and screen separation should not be small.
7. The light should be monochromatic.
Illustration 10. Two slits are made on millimeter apart and the screen is placed one metre away. What is the fringe
separation when blue-green light of wavelength 500 nm is used?
Solution. Fringe spacing
Illustration 11. What is the effect on the interference fringes in a Young’s double-still experiment due to each of the
following operations:
(a) The screen is moved away from the plane of the slits;
(b) The (monochromatic) source is replaced by another (monochromatic) source of shorter wavelength;
(c) The separation between the two slits is increased;
(d) The source slit is moved closer to the double-slit plane;
(e) The width of the source slit is increased;
(f) The monochromatic source is replaced by a source of white light?
(In each operation, take all parameters, other than the one specified to remain unchanged.)
Solution.
(a) Angular separation of the fringes remains constant ( ). The actual separation of the fringes increase in
proportion to the distance of the screen from the plane of the two slits.

(b) The separation of the fringes (and also angular separation) decreases. See, however, the condition mentioned
in (d) below.
(c) The separation of the fringes (and also angular separation) decrease. See however, the condition mentioned in
(d) below.
(d) Let s be the size of the source and S its distance from the plane of the two slits. For interference fringes to be
seen, the condition s/S < λ/d should be satisfied; otherwise, interference patterns produced by different parts
of the source overlap and no fringes are seen. Thus, as S decreases (i.e., the source slit is brought closer), the
interference pattern gets less and less sharp, and when the source is brought too close for this condition to be
valid the fringes disappear. Till this happens, the fringe separation remains fixed.
(e) Same as in (d). As the source slit width increases, fringe pattern gets less and less sharp. When the source slit
is so wide that the condition s/S ≤ λ/d is not satisfied, the interference pattern disappears.
(f) The interference patterns due to different component colours white light overlap (incoherently). The central
bright fringes for different colours are at the same position. Therefore, the central fringe is white. For a point P
for which , where ( ) represents the wavelength for the blue colour, the blue
component will be absent and the fringe will appear red in colour. Slightly farther away where
where ( ) is the wavelength for the red colour, the fringe will be predominantly blue.
Thus, the fringe closest on either side of the central white fringe is red and the farthest will appear blue. After
a few fringes, no clear fringe pattern is see.
Illustration 12. In a Young’s double-slit experiment, the slits are separated by 0.28 mm and the screen is
place 1.4 m away. The distance between the central bright fringe and the fourth bright fringe is measured to
be 1.2 cm. Determine the wavelength of light used in the experiment. NCERT
Solution. Here, ,
Position of bright fringe,
Or
∴ .
Illustration 13. In young’s double slit experiment monochromatic light of wavelength , the intensity of
light at a point on the screen where path difference is is units. What is the intensity of light at a point
where path difference is ? NCERT
Solution. At a point on the screen where path difference is , the phase difference rad and
hence resultant intensity of light there will be

….(i)
At the other point, where path difference is the corresponding phase difference rad and
hence resultant intensity at this point will be
( ) …. (ii)
Comparing (i) and (ii), we get
Illustration 14. A beam of light consisting of two wavelengths, 650 and 520nm, is used to obtain
interference fringes in a young’s double slit experiment.
(a) Find the distance of the third bright fringes on the screen from the central maximum for wavelength
650 .
(b) What is the least distance from the central maximum where the bright fringes due to both the
wavelengths coincide ?
The distance between the two slits is 2 and the distance between the plane of the slits and the screen is
120 . NCERT
Solution. Here
(a) The distance of the third bright fringe from the central maximum for wavelength 650nm is
(b) Suppose at any distance from the central maximum, we have
Or
Or
The bright fringes will coincide at the least distance ,

( )
Or ( )
Hence the required distance is
Illustration 15. In double slit experiment the angular width of a fringe is found to be on a screen palced
1m away. The wavelength of the light used is 600nm. What will be the angular width of fringe if the entire
experimental apparatus is immersed in water ?Take refractive index of water to be 4/3. NCERT
Solution. Since the fringe of width is formed on the screen at distance from its slits , so the angular
fringe width would be
or
If the wavelength in water be and the angular fringe width be , then
[ ]
Illustration 16. Find the ratio of intensities of two points P and Q on a screen in Young’s double slit experiment when
waves from sources S1 and S2 have phase difference of (i) Oo and (ii) respectively.
Solution.
(i) When rays are out of phase by 0o, we get constructive interference
√ √ =

(ii) When rays are out of phase by
√ √ =
Illustration 17. Lesser light of wavelength 630 nm incident on a pair of slits produces an interference pattern in which
the bright fringes are separated by 8.1 mm. A second light produces an interference pattern in which the fringes are
separated by 7.2 mm. calculate the wavelength of second light.
Solution. Given that = 630 nm,
= 8.1 mm, = 7.2 mm
Here
Illustration 18. In young’s double slit experiment, the slits are 0.2 mm apart and the screen is 1.5 m away. It is
observed that the distance between central bright fringe and fourth dark ring is 1.8cm. calculate the wavelength of
light used.
Solutions. Here d = 0.2
D = 1.5 m,
3.5 = 1.8
3.5
= 6.86
Illustration 19. A double slit is illuminated by light of The slit are 0.1 cm apart and the screen is placed
th
1m away. Calculate (a) angular position of 10 maxima in radian (b) separation of two adjacent minima.
Solution. Given ̇ = 6000
d = 0.1 D = 1m
(a) The angular position of the nth maxima

= 0.006 radian
(b) Separation between two adjacent minima (fringe width)
Illustration 20. In a young’s double slit experiment, using light of wavelength 500 , the fringe width obtained is 0.6
cm. if the distance between the screen and the slit is reduced to half, what should be the wavelength of the source of
get fringes 0.4 cm wide?
Solution. We know that
In the first case,
0.6 ………….(i)
For the second case,
0.4 = …………… (ii)
Dividing eqn. (ii) by eqn. (i) we get
Illustration 21. In a young’s double slit set – up , the two slits have equal width and the intensity at the central
maxima is 4I where I is the intensity produced on the screen by one of the slits. What is the intensity at a point where
distance from the central maxima is equal to one third of the fringe width?
Solution. One third of the fringe width means
Z =
∴ phase difference
∴ √
∴ ( )
∴ The required intensity is I.
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Illustration 22. Find the intensity of the maximum if n identical waves each of intensity superpose in a medium if
they are (a) coherent (b) incoherent.
Solution.
(a) Let the amplitude of each wave be A
Where k is a constant of proportionality. Now, if the waves are all coherent, their amplitude add up at the
maxima. Hence, at the maxima, the amplitude A’ is given by
A’ = nA
Hence, the intensity is given by
( )
EXERCISE 2.
1. What are coherent sources of light?
2. Two electric bulbs, point like and having filament of the same material are placed close together. Can they produce
interference?
3. Does light energy remain conserved in interference?
4. Explain the statement ‘’light added to light can produce darkness.’’
5. For interference pattern to be clearly visible in Young’s double slit experiment

(a) The slits should be very close to each other
(b) The screen should be placed at comparatively larger distance. Explain.
6. What happens to the interference pattern if the entire arrangement is immersed in water?
7. If one of the slits in Yong’s double slit experiment is painted so that it transmits half the light intensity of the other
(initially the intensity through both the slits were same), then what will be the effect of the intensities of maxima
and minima in the interference pattern?

8. What is the effect on the interference fringes in a Young’s double-slit experiment due to each of the following
operations?
(a) The screen is moved away from the plane of the slits
(b) The (monochromatic) source is replaced by another (monochromatic) source of shorter wavelength
(c) The separation between the two slits is increased
(d) The source slit is moved closer to the double-slit plane
(e) The width of the source slit is increased
(f) The monochromatic source is replaced by a source of white light.
9. Will we see interference pattern when the two coherent sources are infinitely close to each other?
10. In young’s double slit experiment, first both the slits are covered by red cellophane paper and then by blue. What
change will be observed in the fringe width?
11. How would the angular separation of interference fringes in Young’s double slit experiment change when the
distance between the slits and screen is double?
12. In double slit experiment, is greater than by 0.25 . Calculate the path difference between two interfering
beams from and for minima and maxima on the screen.
13. The ratio of the intensities at minima to maxima in the interference pattern is 9 : 25. What will be the ratio of the
widths of the two slits in the Young’s double slit experiment?
14. Two slits 0.125 m apart are illuminated by light of wavelength 4500 Å. The screen is one metre away
from the plane of the slits. Find the separation between the second bright fringes on both sides of the central
maxima.
15. In young’s double slit experiment, the fringe width obtained is 0.6 cm, when light of wavelength 4800 Å is used.
If the distance between the screen and the slit is reduced to half, what should be the wavelength of light used to
obtain fringes 0.0045 m wide?
16. In a young’s double slit experiment, we observe the 10th maxima for . What order will be visible if
the source of light is replaced by light of wavelength 5000Å?

NCERT QUESTION & ANSWER
Illustration. What should the width of each slit be to obtain 10 maxima of the double slit pattern within the
central maximum of the single slit pattern?
Solution. We want
Notice that wavelength of light and distance of the screen do not enter in the calculation of a.
Illustration. Assume that light of wavelength 6000 is coming from a star. What is the limit of resolution
of a telescope whose objective has a diameter of 100 inch?
Solution. A 100 inch telescope implies that inch = 254 cm. Thus if,
Illustration. Discuss the intensity of transmitted light when a Polaroid sheet is rotated between two crossed
polaroids?
Solution. Let be the intensity of polarized light after passing through the first polarizer . Then the
intensity of light after passing through second polarizer will be
Where θ is the angle between pass axes of and . Since and are crossed the angle between the pass
axes of and will be ( ). Hence the intensity of light emerging from will be
( )
Therefore, the transmitted intensity will be maximum when .

WAVE OPTICS.
Illustration 1. What is the geometrical shape of the wavefront in each of the following cases:
(d) Light diverging from a point source.
(e) Light emerging out a convex lens when a point source is placed at its focus.
(f) The portion of the wavefront of light from a distance star intercepted by the Earth.
Solution. (a) Spherical (b) Plane (c) Plane.
Illustration 2. Light of wavelength 5000 Å falls on a plane reflecting surface. What are the wavelength and
frequency of the reflected light? For what angle of incidence is the reflected ray normal to the incident ray?
Solution. Here Å m,
∴ Wave length of reflected light = Wavelength of incident light = 5000 Å.
Also,
Now
Also,
∴
Illustration 3. (a). The refractive index of glass is 1.5. What is the speed of light in glass? (Speed of light in
vacuum is 3.0 × ).
(b). Is the speed of light in glass independent of the colour of light? If not, which of the two colours red and
violet travels slower in a glass prism?
Solution. (a). Here,
∴ Speed of light in glass,
(b). Since Cauchy formula states that
i.e.,
Clearly, the speed of light is not independent of colour of light (in case of glass). The wave length of violet
colour is small compared to red colour, therefore, the velocity of violet component is less than the red one.
Illustration 4. Monochromatic light of wavelength 600 nm is incident from air on a glass surface. What are
the wavelength, frequency and speed of the refracted light? Refractive index of glass is 1.5,,
Solution. Here, λ = 1.5,
∴ .

Since the frequency is unaltered by the change in medium, frequency of refracted light .
Also,
And
Illustration 5. A region is illuminated by two sources of light. The intensity I at each point is found to be
equal to where is the intensity of light at the point when source 2 is absent. is similarly defined.
Are the sources coherent or incoherent? Explain.
Solution. The sources are incoherent, because if the sources were coherent, interference fringes would be
formed.
Illustration 6. In a Young’s double-slit experiment, the slits are separated by 0.28 mm and the screen is
place 1.4 m away. The distance between the central bright fringe and the fourth bright fringe is measured to
be 1.2 cm. Determine the wavelength of light used in the experiment.
Solution. Here,
∴ From the relation,
Illustration 7. What is the Brewster angle for air to glass transition? (Refractive index of glass = 1.5.)
Solution. For air to glass transition,
1.5
Illustration 8. Two polaroids are placed to each other and the transmitted intensity is zero. What
happens when one more polaroid is placed between these two bisecting the angle between them?
Solution. Let be the intensity of light emerging from the first polaroid. Then the second polaroid will
make an angle of . Therefore, intensity of light emerging from second polaroid,
The third polaroid which is at right to the first is now making an angle of with the second. Therefore,
intensity of light coming out of it,
i.e., the intensity will be reduced to one fourth.

Illustration 9. Estimate the distance for which ray optics is good approximation for an aperture of 4 mm and
wavelength 400 nm.
Solution. Here , Aperture m
∴ Distance for which ray optics is good approximation.

( )
.
Illustration 10. Two towers on top of two hills are 40 km apart. The line joining them passes 50 m above a
hill halfway between the towers. What is the longest wavelength of radio wave, which can be sent between
the towers without appreciable diffraction effects?
Solution. If A and B are two hills and C is the hill peak mind way. Then, using the diffraction condition,
For longest wavelength .
∴ .
Or .
Illustration 11. The 6563 λ line emitted by hydrogen in a star is found to be red-shifted by 15 Å.
Estimate the speed with which the star is recending from the Earth.
Solution. Å
.
Now using the relation
Illustration 12. Monochromatic light of wavelength 589 nm is incident from air on a water surface. What
are the wavelength, frequency and speed of (a) reflected, and (b) refracted light? Reflective index of water is
1.33.
Solution. Here, m
(c) For reflected c = 3 ( )
∴ Frequency .
(d) In moving from one medium to the other, frequency remains unchanged ∴ frequency of refractive
light is v’ = 5.09 × Hz
Also, nm.
And v = .
Illustration 13. Explain how Newton’s corpuscular theory predicts the speed of light in a medium in a
medium, say water, to be greater than the speed of light in vacuum. Is the prediction confirmed by
experimental determination of the speed of light in water? If not, which alternative picture of light is
consistent with experiment?

Solution. According to Newton’s corpuscular theory, whenever light in the form of particles enters into
denser medium from rarer medium, a force of attraction comes into play on the particles normal to the
surface. Thus, the component of velocity normal to the surface of liquid increases where as the component
of velocity parallel to surface does not change. Therefore,
But ∴
i.e., velocity in denser medium is greater than velocity of light in rarer medium. However, in actual case
c > v.
Illustration 14. What is the effect on the interference fringes in a Young’s double-slit experiment due to the
following operations:
(a) The screen is moved away from the plane of the slits;
(b) The (monochromatic) source is replaced by another (monochromatic) source of shorter wavelength;
(c) The separation between the two slits is increased;
(d) The source slit is moved close to the double-slit plane;
(e) The width of the source slit is increased;
(f) The widths of two slits are increased;
(g) The monochromatic source is replaced by source of white light?
(In each operation, take all parameters, other than the one specified, to remain unchanged.)
Solution.
(a) When the separation between the screen and slits is increased, the separation of the fringes increases
proportionately with the distance of screen from the plane of slits.
(b) Since fringe width decreasing the wavelength produces a decrease in the fringe width.
(c) Since , the width of the fringes decreases when d is increased.
(d) For the interference fringes to be observed, the condition should be satisfied. Here s is the size
of the source slit and S is the distance of source slit and plane of the double slit. Thus, as S is
decreased, the interference pattern starts getting less and less and finally disappears when the above
condition becomes unvalid.
(e) When the width of the slit is increased, i.e., s increases, the condition does not remain valid
and the fringes become unobservable.
(f) By increasing the width of the two slits, improvement in the brightness of fringes occurs. However,
if the two slits are very much wide beyond a certain condition the diffraction patterns of the slits start
appearing.
(g) In this case, coloured fringes are obtained. A few of the coloured fringes are obtained on the screen
with the central fringe as the white fringe. After a few fringes, no clear pattern is obtained.
Illustration 15. The adjoining igure shows an outline of Lloyd’s mirror experiment. M is plane mirror; S is
a narrow slit illuminated by some source of light (not shown) and S’ is the image of S in M.M, S and S’ are
in a plane perpendicular to the paper. O is the line of intersection of the mirror and the screen.
(a) What is the origin of the fringes observed on the screen?
(b) Why is the slit S placed so as to have very oblique angle of
incidence of light striking the mirrors?

(c) The two path lengths PS and PS’ are equal when P coincides with O. Yet the fringe at O found in the
experiment to be dark, not bright. What does this observation imply.
Solution.
(a) Fringes are formed due to the interference of light produced by the source S and its image S’
(b) The fringes are obtained only if the sources S and S’ are placed close to each other. This is possible
if the slit S is placed so as to have the oblique angle of incident.
(c) It is due to the fact that a phase change of (or a path difference of ) takes place due to
reflection from the mirror.
Illustration 16. Figure below shows two flat glass plates and
placed nearly (but not exactly) parallel forming an air wedge. The
plates are illuminated normally by monochromatic light and viewed
from above. Light waves reflected from the upper and viewed from
above. Light waves reflected from the upper and lower surface of the
air wedge give rise to an interference patter.
(a) Show that the separation between two successive bright (or dark) fringes is given by where l is the
length of each plate and s is the separation between the plates at the open end of the wedge.
(b) In the experiment, a dark fringe is observer along the line joining the two plates. Why?
(c) If the space between the glass plates is filled with water, what changes in the fringe pattern do you
expect to see, if at all?
(d) Suggest a way of obtaining a bright fringe along the line of contact of the two plates in this
experiment.
Solution.
(a) Let PN be the line perpendicular to the plates P above which the observations are made. If θ is the
angle between two plates, then
.
For destructive interference in the reflected system,
∴ Separation between two successive dark fringes.
( ) ( )( ) ( ) .
(b) A phase change of takes place whenever reflection of light takes place for incidence from rarer
to denser medium. Thus, no phase change takes place for reflection from the upper surface of plate
whereas a phase change of takes place for reflection from its lower surface, because
reflection takes place at the boundary of denser to rarer medium. Therefore, the fringe formed along
the line of contact of two plates is dark
(c) Introduction of liquid like water only decrease the wavelength of light. As a result the fringe width
becomes times the original wavelength.
(d) To obtain the bright fringe along the line of contact, the refractive index of the plate should be
grater than the refractive index of pate and a liquid of refractive index of value in between the
refractive indices for and should be filled between the plates.
Illustration 17. Give the shape of interferences observed.

(a) In a Young’s double-slit experiment.
(b) In the air wedge experiment.
(c) In the Lloyd’s mirror experiment.
(d) When a small lamp is placed before a thin mica sheet and light waves reflected from the front and
back surfaces of the sheet combine to produce interference pattern on a screen behind the lamp
(Pohl’s experiment).
(e) From a thin air film formed by placing a convex lens on top of flat glass plate (Newton’s
arrangement).
Solution.
(a) The interference fringes are bright and dark lines parallel to the slit.
(b) In the air wedge experiment, the fringes are bright dark lines parallel to the line of contact.
(c) In the Lloyd’s mirror experiment, fringes are bright and dark straight line parallel to slit.
(d) In this case, the fringes obtained are circular.
(e) The fringes obtained are circular and are called Newton’s rings.
Illustration 18. (a). Red light of wavelength 6500 Å from a distant source falls on a slit 0-50 mm. What is
the distance between the two dark bands on each side of the central bright band of the diffraction pattern
observer on a screen placed 1.8 m from the slit?
(b). What is the answer to (a) if the slit is replaced by a small circular hole of diameter 0.50 mm ?.
Solution. (a) Here, m

The distance between two dark bands on each side of central bright band is the width of central maximum.
∴ m.
mm.
(b). For circular aperture, we get circular fringes and the width of central bright band in this case is
( )
.
Illustration 19. At a given point in space, circularly polarized light produces equal amplitude vibration
along x and y with a phase difference, . Let x’ and y’ be a new set
of axes rotated by in the plane. If the same vibrations and are present along x’
and y’, show that the result is still circularly polarized light with a different phase. Show that if is
changed in phase by radian, the circle is traversed in the opposite sense.
Solution. Let and be the components of electric vector along x and y axis in xy plane and
be the components in the frame rotated through angle .
Then ……. (1)
……. (2)
Now put and
∴ Equation (1) becomes.

( ) …… (3)
Also, equation (2) becomes
( )
Equation (3) and (4) are the equations of circularly polarized light with a change in phase . ….. (4)
When θ is changed to changes sign, meaning that the reflection of electric vector has occurred in
the x – axis. As a result the circle is traversed in the opposite sense.
Illustration 20. Show that the two oppositely circularly polarized beams of the same frequency and equal
amplitude combine to give linear polarization. What should one do to the relative phase of the two beams to
rotate the direction of linear polarization? Can you use this to understand what happen to the two opposite
circular polarization in sugar solution?
Solution. A circularly polarized beam may be represented vectorially as
⃗ [ ( )] ̂ [ ( )] ̂.
And the circularly polarized beam having the circle traversed in opposite direction to the above beam is :
⃗⃗⃗ [ ( )] ̂ [ ( )] ̂.
∴ Resultant of the two beam = ⃗ ⃗⃗⃗ .
⃗ [ ( )] ̂ [ ( )] ̂ [ ( )] ̂ [ ( )] ̂.
( )̂
i.e., the resultant is a linearly polarized beam with polarization along x – axis.
To rotate the direction of linear polarization, one requires to change the phase by in one circularly
polarized beam and - in the other.
A phase difference between the two opposite circular waves is produced due to the rotation of linearly
polarized waves by the sugar solution.
Illustration 21. Two polarized are placed at to each other and the transmitted intensity is zero.
(a) What happens when one more polaroid is placed between these two bisecting the angle between
them?
(b) (N – 1) more polaroids are inserted between two crossed polaroids (at to each other). Their axes
are equally spaced. How does the transmitted intensity behave for large N?
Solution. (a). The fractional intensity of plane polarized light emerging out of N successive polaroids placed
at successive angle by.
( )
For N = 2
( ) ( ) ( )

( )
√
i.e., intensity reduces to th of initial intensity.
(b). If N is very – very large, 2N → ∞. Therefore, .
∴ ( ) the intensity is nearly equal to incident intensity. However if

N is not so large, then we may make an approximation for i.e.,
( )
∴ * ( )+ * ( )
+ ( ).
Illustration 22. A half wave plate is a device which introduces a phase difference of π between and
what is its effect on
(a) Linearly polarized light making angle θ to the x – axis?
(b) Circularly polarized light?
Solution.
(a) In this case the linear polarization occurs along negative θ.
(b) It reverses the sense of circular polarization.
Illustration 23. Sodium light has two wavelength nm and . As the path difference
increases, when is the visibility of the fringes a minimum?
Solution. nm
m
For minimum visibility, path difference
Where m.
∴ nm.
.
Illustration 24. In deriving the single diffraction pattern, it was stated that the intensity is zero at angle of
. Justify this by suitable dividing the slit to bring out the cancellation.
Solution. Let us suppose that we have n slits of width a’ so that a’ = . Then, the angle .
.
( )
Therefore, each of the n slits of width a’ each sends zero intensity in the direction θ. As a result, the net
resultant of intensity due to n such slits is zero.

Illustration 25. In a pinhole camera, a box of length L has a hole of a
radius a in one wall. When the hole is illuminated by a parallel beam, the
size of spot of light is large. Show that it is also very large when a is small
due to diffraction. Assume that the spread due to diffraction just adds to the
geometrical spread and find the minimum size of the spot.
Solution. The angle of diffraction is given by
where is the wave-length of light used.
Therefore, the size of the spot after diffraction spread …. (1)
Also, geometrical spread = a ..… (2)
∴ Total spread of the pinhole .
For the spread to be minimum, its differential w.r.t. ‘a’ must be zero i.e., ( )
∴ from eqn. (1).
Minimum diffraction spread

√
√
Also, from eqn. (2),
Minimum geometrical spread √
Total minimum spread of the spot √ √ √

Illustration 26. Two coherent beams intersect at a small angle θ. What is the spacing of the interference
fringes on a screen whose normal bisects the directions of two beam? Instead of a screen, a photographic
film is used. When it is developed, the fringes appear as opaque and transparent regions. The film is then
used as a grating (a device which consists of large number of equally spread single slits).
What happens when one of the two beams which produced the interference is allowed to fall on this grating?
Solution. Let and be two coherent sources with the point the screen at
point O, then
∠ and ∠
So that ∠ ∠ .
If P is any other point, where we shift the point O on the screen and draw a
⊥from O to P, then in triangle OKP,
( )
Path difference

Similarly, the path difference for the ray from
∴ Total path difference .
For shifting the screen from O to P through one bright fringe, path difference = λ
If we use the photographic film instead of screen, then the change in direction in first order of the grating
.
Now, if we illuminate the film with one of the beams, the beam will emerge at an angle to the direction of
incidence.

EXERCISE 1.
ANSWER
1. A ray of light is a line with an arrow which show the direction in which the light propagates.
2. Huygens’ principal gives us a geometrical method to explain the propagation of wavefront (or spreading
of light) in a medium.
3. Zero.
4. ( )
5. (i) Spherical (ii) Cylindrical (iii) planewavefront.
6.
7. True
8. (a) when light is incident on a surface, the atoms of the surface start oscillating with the frequency of
incident light, a case of forced oscillations. Now, these oscillating atoms emit light whose frequency is
same as that of their oscillation. Therefore, the reflected and refracted light have the same frequency as
the incident frequency.
(b) We know that the energy possessed by a wave depends on its amplitude and not velocity. Therefore,
when light travels from a rarer to a denser medium, there is no change in the energy carried by the
wave.
(c) According to photon picture of light, the intensity of light is equal to the number of photons incident
per unite area per second.
9. (a) Plane wavefront (b) Plane wavefront (c) plane wavefront
(d) Spherical wavefront (with centre at the focus of concave mirror).
10. (a) None (b) Velocity and wavelength.
11. (a) radian (b) 0 radian

12. True
13. All the three parameters, i.e., speed, frequency and wavelength remain the same after reflection

EXERCISE 2.
ANSWER
1. For two sources to be coherent, the sources
(i) Should emit light of same wavelength
(ii) Should have zero or constant phase difference between them.
2. No, because two different sources of light are incoherent. To obtain a sustained interference pattern, the
sources should be coherent.
3. Yes. The total light energy remains the same. During interference distribution of energy takes place.
4. This can be explained by taking the example of interference. The dark fringes obtained during
interference is by light added to light. Since the sum of individual displacement has to be done by vector
addition, this phenomenon occurs.
5. We know that fringe width

For fringes to be visible, should be small and D should be large.
6. The fringe width will decrease. This is because the fringe width is directly proportional to the
wavelength of light. In water, the wavelength of light decrease.
* +
7. Initially,
( )
( )
When one slit is painted
and ( ) or ( )
√
∴ ( ) ( )
√ √
( ) ( )
√ √
8. We know that angular separation between fringes and the separation between the fringes ( )
(a) When D increases
(i) There is no change in the angular separation.
(ii) The separation between the fringes ( ) increases.
(b) When decreases

(i) The angular separation decreases.
(ii) The separation between the fringe ( ) decreases.
(c) When d increases

(i) The angular separation decreases
(ii) The separation between the fringes( ) decreases.

SUMMARY OF WAVE OPTICS CONCEPT CLASESS (XII) PHYSICS
 A wavefront is the continuous locus of all the points in the medium where the wave vibrations occur in
the same phase.
 According to Huygens, every point to primary wavefront acts as a fresh source of new secondary
spherical wavelets. These wavelets propagate in all directions with the speed of light. A surface which
touches these secondary spherical wavelets tangentially and in the direction of propagation gives the
new wavefront.
 Laws of reflection and refraction of light can be proven with the wave theory of light.
 When two waves of the same wavelength, travelling nearly parallel to each other and having a constant
initial phase difference travel simultaneously in a medium, then their energies are redistributed in space
in the form of regions of high and low intensities. This phenomenon is called interference.
For interference:
Constructive interference : Phase difference
: Path difference
Destructive interference : Phase difference ( )
: Path difference ( )
 In young’s double slit experiment, the fringe width obtained is

 The phenomenon of bending of light around corners of an obstacle or aperture in the path of light is
called diffraction.
Condition for minima: d sin = n
Condition for maxima: d sin ( )
 A beam of light in which the electric field vectors oscillate in all possible directions perpendicular to the
direction of propagation of light is called an unpolarised light.
 A beam of light in which the electric field vectors oscillate only in one plane is called plane polarized
light.
 According to law of malus, when a beam of completely plane polarized light is incident on an analyser,
the resultant intensity I of the light transmitted through the analyser is directly proportional to the cosine
of the angle between the plane of vibration of analyser and polarizer, I
 According to Brewster’s law,


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WAVE OPTICS

3. Plane wave front. A small part of a spherical or a cylindrical wave front

Huygens’ principle is based on the following assumptions

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 1

Refraction and Reflection of Planes Waves using Huygens Principle:

In order to determine the shape of the refracted wavefront we draw a

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 2

Where i and r are the angles of incidence and refraction, respectively.

……. (i) = refractive index of medium 1

……. (ii) = refractive index of medium 2

From (i) and (ii)

This is the Snell’s law of refraction.

(ii) Reflection of a Plane Wave by a Plane Surface :

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 3

Behavior of a Prism, Convex Lens and Concave Mirror to a Plane Wavelength

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 4

(a) For reflected c = 3 ( )

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 5

∴ Wave length of reflected light = Wavelength of incident light = 5000 Å.

Solution. (a). Here,

∴ Speed of light in glass,

(b). Since Cauchy formula states that

 THE DOPPLER EFFECT :

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 6

is consider positive when the source moves away from observer.

Therefore, the galaxy is moving away from us.

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 7

Solution. Wavelength of yellow light in vacuum,

Wavelength of yellow light in air,

From the above two equations, we get

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 8

12. A phase difference of is equivalent to a path length changes of .

Is above statement true of false?

Mathematical Explanation of interference

Where . Here is the phase difference due to path difference ( ).

And ……… (4)

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 10

Intensity I is proportional to square of the amplitude A.

Where K is a constant of proportionality. Let us now consider eqn. (6)

For Constructive Interference.

Where ………. (8)

Corresponding path difference

At maxima ……… (9)

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 11

For Destructive interference

( ) where n = 1, 2, 3, …….. ..……. (11)

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 12

The ratio of intensities of maxima and minima can, therefore, be obtained as

Solution. Let us assume the intensities of the two sources to be

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 13

NOTE. For two sources to be coherent, the sources

Intensity, when the Two sources of Light are Incoherent

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 14

Positions of Bright Fringes on the Screen

For a bright fringe at P,

Concept Classes 3/5 East Punjabi Bagh, 9811741187 Page 15

Positions of Dark fringes on the screen.

For a dark fringe at P, ( ) where

[first dark fringe]